“Pizza Pie, Pizza Pie” is the chant that is sung in my home in a big burly voice.  It is the call that let’s the tribe know there will be pizza in the oven soon.  We will mark the day in a bite of cheesy laced crust and celebrate every morsel.  This is how I live… like a disciple committed to the art of pizza.  Let’s take the first steps towards our pie and begin with the dough.  Believe me I wasn’t always this confident in my dough making, in fact I shivered in my boots the first time the ingredients sat before me, but now I know just how easy it is…. with that being said let’s sing….. “Pizza Pie, Pizza Pie.”

Ingredients for pizza dough:

1 – packet highly active dry yeast (rapid rise)

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon warm/hot water

1 – tablespoon honey or sugar (I use honey)

2 – tablespoons olive oil

4 – cup all purpose flour or bread flour

1 1/2 – teaspoons table salt

1/2 – tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped (optional)

In the bowl of a stand mixer add yeast and water and allow to dissolve. Mix it a few times until you know all yeast is dissolved. Then add in honey and mix to combine.  The water will be cloudy. This is the perfect sign.

Next add in olive oil and give another mix.  Let water mixture sit for 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl mix flour, salt and rosemary.

Then add flour mixture all at once to the water mixture in the stand up mixer.

Fit a dough hook onto your stand up mixer, knead at low for 5 minutes allowing all ingredients to come together.  Increase the speed to medium and continue mixing for 4 minutes the dough will comes away from the bowl with it wrapped around the the dough hook.  This is exactly what you’re looking for. Dough will be tacky but not sticky.

Remove dough from mixer and place on a clean flat surface and knead with hands for a minute.

Then lightly grease a bowl with a teaspoon of olive oil and transfer dough into lightly oiled bowl.  Once dough is placed in bowl form into a ball turning to coat the surface with oil.

Then flip bowl over on a large plate and leave dough covered in bowl for an hour and a half at room temperature allowing dough to rise.

Once dough rises uncover and knead dough for a minute or two then divide dough into 4 equal balls.

Form each ball into smooth dough by kneading for a minute or two. Then place all balls on a plate and cover with plastic wrap.

Leave them covered for another hour at room temperature. They will continue to rise.  Then refrigerate over night or up to 3 days covered in plastic wrap.  Dough will continue to rise until the cold of the refrigerator makes it go dormant.

Stay tuned for a the rest of my pizza making adventures…..

All photos taken by: Mando Lopez